Matter Of Taste [Hardcover]

• The attempt to match every recipe with an appropriate beverage (usually wine, but many other spirits as well – no beer), with an explanation of why the food and drink go well together. The authors don’t recommend specific wine brands or years, but rather grapes and regions.

• The grouping of recipes (usually 4-6) into full dinner menus with interesting themes (e.g. Burns Night dinner, Ski Chalet dinner, alternative Thanksgiving).

• A seasonal approach, whereby each menu is designed for one of the four seasons, through the choice of seasonal ingredients and also through the feel of the food and drink (e.g. warm, hearty fare and strong liquor in the winter; fish and white wines in the summer)

•Histories of alcoholic drinks. Sprinkled throughout the text are informative mini-essays on various spirits and liqueurs, as well as aspects of wines (botrytis, terroir, etc.)

Being a wine novice with an undistinguished palate, I don’t consider myself qualified to judge how well the book succeeds in its primary goal of food & drink matching. I can say that the food tastes great – every dish we have made (cod with romesco sauce, chicken & fig casserole, and many more) has been delicious.

The grouping of recipes into full dinner menus has strengths and weaknesses. It is a lot of fun to read and visualize serving one of these menus, but it is a little too labour-intensive for everyday cooking. We have usually ended up picking and choosing one or two of the individual recipes, instead of the full menu. The same applies to the choice of drinks – how many of us will have two or three different wines and perhaps an aperitif or a digestive with our everyday dinners? (Perhaps only those of us who work for the liquor board, as both of the authors do!) The full menus of food and drink would likely be useful if you throw a lot of dinner parties, which I don’t.

Overall, lots of great food, and I learned a lot about alcoholic drinks, although I’m still in the early stages of putting that knowledge to use. Definitely not a first cookbook – try Cooking For Dummies, Crazy Plates, or Anne Lindsay for more straightforward fare. You will get maximum benefit from this book if you know the basics of wines and would consider yourself an intermediate cook – however, there was still a lot of value for a novice like me.

Ms. Waverman has carefully created seasonal menus, some more general, others appropriate to particular occasions (Thanksgiving, Burns Night, Christmas, New Years, Passover, etc.), and James Chatto has paired these menus with wine suggestions. Dispersed throughout the book are informative discussions of particular aspects of matching food and drinks; decanting, sherry, or brining a turkey, etc.

When having company, it's nice to know that someone has done the worrying about wine and appetizers for you, and you can feel entirely safe in the steady hands of Waverman & Chatto. The food, while up-to-date, is not glaringly trendy (i.e. lemongrass and cilantro in everything) or dull (full flavoured, yes, but concussive, no). The wine suggestions are not unreasonable either; Chatto does not call for a specific vintner or vintage, but takes a more universal approach (he calls for a valipolicella classico, for instance, rather than a Masi Valpolicella classico, thus departing from the pattern of his Food & Wine recommendations).

The food is delicious, and the bits of information and history surrounding it make this a wonderful book to read as well as cook from; the photography decadent; the writing is the closest thing to Nigella Lawson's sumptuous prose we have in the Canadian market.

The onion tarts and the roast beef in a mustard-rosemary rub are my favourites so far - and the accompanying gravy is divine.

I have not given the book four stars only because it doesn't attain the diverse utility of a compendium like the Joy of Cooking. If, you desire a more basic cookbook, I'd direct you to Lucy's other books, or a Rachael Ray publication. Also, this book isn't really suitable for vegetarians.